Srinagar: The Aam Aadmi Party’s Jammu and Kashmir president Mehraj Malik on Sunday (May 3) returned home to a rousing reception with thousands defying prohibitory orders to welcome the Doda legislator after his preventive detention under the Public Safety Act was struck down by J&K high Court.A massive crowd comprising more than 40,000 men, women and children per estimates by locals and analysis of video clips by The Wire gathered at the sports stadium in Doda district on Sunday afternoon to welcome and listen to the AAP leader following his release from jail on April 28.The administration had imposed prohibitory orders on Sunday under section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) to prevent gathering of five or more people in parts of Doda district citing “reasonable apprehension” of “public disorder or danger that may threaten public peace and tranquility”.Without referring to the AAP MLA’s return, the order claimed that “unlawful gatherings” were being planned in parts of Doda “without any security arrangement” which posed a threat to “safety and security of common masses”.Section 163 grants power to the district magistrate to issue prohibitory orders on public gathering in “urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger”.The ex-parte order, which has been issued by deputy commissioner Doda Krishan Lal, will remain in force in Doda for two months. The order warned of action against violators under section 223 of the BNSS.Sources said that the AAP leader had stayed overnight on Saturday in Batote village of Ramban district and left for his home in Kahara village of Kishtwar on Sunday morning.Thousands gather to welcome Mehraj Malik, the AAP MLA arrested under the Public Safety Act and released months in Kashmir after a court ruled it unlawful. Photo: Imran Shah.However, as the news of Malik’s return started to spread, the Chenab Valley comprising Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu division came to life with hundreds of men and women coming out of their homes along the 106 km inter-district highway connecting the hilly districts.Some excited AAP supporters were seen putting garlands of cash on Malik as his grand cavalcade which comprised dozens of cars and bikes proceeded from Ramban towards Doda.Along the hilly road, people were seen offering drinking water, tea and food items to Malik’s supporters who were part of the massive procession.Also read: What the J&K High Court Said While Quashing the Detention Under PSA of AAP MLA Mehraj MalikA local reporter said the procession grew from a few hundreds to more than 40,000 by the time it reached Doda, taking the administration by surprise and sparking apprehensions of “law and order” breakdown.In the main market of Doda, a J&K police vehicle mounted with a public address system was seen on Sunday morning urging people to avoid gatherings or face legal action.The AAP leader whose detention under the PSA was termed by the high court as an “unjustified exercise” later made an appeal through a video urging his supporters to gather at the sports stadium in Doda.Gagan Sharma, a resident of Doda, told The Wire over phone that hundreds of Hindu residents of Chenab valley also attended the rally besides the Muslims.“They didn’t join for any personal gains. They were there only because a courageous son of a poor man who fought for the poor and was treated unfairly had ultimately prevailed against the powers that be. Many women were seen crying,” Sharma, an AAP supporter, said.Addressing the massive rally at the sports stadium in Doda, Malik said that he would continue to work for the welfare of poor people “even if I have to go back to jail again”.In a veiled dig at the BJP, Malik said that those trading in religion have no place in politics. The J&K AAP chief also lampooned the chief minister Omar Abdullah government for failing to fulfil its promise of providing 200 free units of electricity to people.“I don’t do the politics of vengeance. All my life I have believed in the politics of honesty and development, and I will not hesitate in raising the voices of the poor. I am only doing my duty and the government should fulfil its responsibility too?” he said.On April 27, a single bench of the high court led by justice Mohd Yousuf Wani held that the detention of Malik under the PSA had deprived him of his fundamental rights.In an 87-page order, the court observed that “non-application of mind” was “discernible” on part of Doda deputy commissioner Harvinder Singh before he approved the PSA detention order.“The invocation of the provisions of the PSA to detain the petitioner rather than to pursue the prosecution against him appears to be an unjustified exercise tentamounting (sic) to violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioner,” the court ruled.